Fro-yo girl here. I was shopping at Sprouts the other day when I came across a new Icelandic yogurt called Viking Grass-Fed Icelandic Yogurt. The word “skyr” is not on the packaging but it emphasizes high protein content instead. Sprouts was selling Viking for $1.79 (regular price) and $1.59 on sale. They had four flavors: Pure, Vanilla, Cucumber Mint and Strawberry. Other flavors that I didn’t see include Coconut Crème, Blueberry. Sprouts started carrying Viking in April 2017, giving the line national distribution.
Viking is distributed by Saga Dairy of Boston, MA. The yogurt is non-GMO, nonfat and has live and active cultures. The portion sizes are bigger than average, at 6 oz per serving (vs. 5.3 oz) while the price is lower.
Like the other Icelandic yogurts, Viking uses grassfed milk, is non-GMO and lower in sugar. But I am not sure how their yogurt is Icelandic rather than Greek. The flavors aren’t Nordic and there isn’t much information about how the yogurt is produced. The founders aren’t from Iceland. I did read that they take out more whey than with Greek yogurt, so that’s why their yogurt is more Icelandic. It’s clear from the packaging and messaging that the goal is to make Icelandic yogurt more palatable for the mainstream consumer and less Nordic sounding.
* Cucumber mint: This was the most interesting sounding flavor. The texture was thick and while smooth, it was a tad grainy. Flavor wise, it seemed quite a bit sweeter than other brands of skyr, which is a definite negative. I like skyr because it usually isn’t as sweet. Viking isn’t as sweet as traditional American yogurt though. It still has quite a bit of tang. There were tiny bits of cucumber in the yogurt. The mint flavor was not strong. While it sounds like a savory flavor, it isn’t. The yogurt coated my tongue and didn’t have a clean finish.
One serving is 6 oz, 140 calories, 0g of fat, 17g of protein and 13g of sugars.
Ingredients: Pasteurized skim milk with live active cultures, cane sugar, cucumber, fruit pectin, mint and lime juice concentrate.
Because skyr is so thick, 5.3 oz is just enough for me. I also like the more authentic messaging, sour flavor, and I don’t mind paying a bit more for quality and flavor. I probably am not the mainstream yogurt consumer though.
3.5 out of 5 stars.
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.
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